Sleep Your Life Away
by Generation Nothing
Summary: He heard the screams but he kept on running. He heard your lies and he ran harder. He saw fear and turned away. All he's ever done is run and switch Dream Cycles. He's tired of it. He wants to make a stand.
1. The Promise

He heard the footsteps. Of course she didn't. They couldn't run. They couldn't hide. She didn't breathe. She couldn't live. He tried to hold on. He found himself losing it as he stared into the lifeless green eyes. Her blood was everywhere. Even dead it wouldn't stop. It created a pool, a pool of blood. His concussion made his head throb. Retreating footsteps, yells, screams, gunfire. All repeating in the boy's head. His black hair was stuck to his forehead in sweat as he was shot once more. He felt himself let go of the red haired girl, as he lay as a crumpled figure next to her. More retreating footsteps, then nothing. Nothing except the gasped out sounds of the one boy, and the coldness radiating off of the dead girl. The boy tried to close his sea green eyes, but a voice in the back of his head told him to stay awake. He still felt himself drifting away. Footsteps. Running footsteps. He heard himself make a noise, and in his head he pleaded for no more. He raised his hand, whispering the words he had learned as a small boy. He heard himself scream, and then he blacked out. Unfortunately, not for good.

Four Years Later

A nineteen-year-old Percy Jackson lay in his bed at his apartment. Another boy, sixteen years old, sat next to him in a. uncomfortable wooden chair.

"Percy, are you awake?" The sixteen-year-old boy, Nico asked. He got no reply. Nico ran a hand through his own black messy hair, sighing. A few minutes later, in a small whisper Percy replied.

"Yes." Nico slightly jumped. He wasn't expecting an answer. He never expected an answer from Percy. He never expected anything from Percy.

"Oh." Nico says, leaning back in the chair. Nico looks off to his right, looking at the puke colored curtains that Percy liked.

"You haven't seen the sun in a while…" Nico says. He feels like an intruder somehow. The room in so silent, so vulnerable, and his voice is so strong and deep. It feels as though he's destroyed a strong empire every time he speaks.

"I'd like to keep it that way." Percy says in an emotionless voice. He weakly clasps his hands together. He has bags under his eyes. Nico doesn't under stand this. Percy sleeps almost 24/7, and he still gets bags. Nico stands up.

"This is sort of pathetic." Percy looks up a Nico, his neck cracking. He raises an eyebrow with an effort.

"You haven't left your apartment since last year! And all throughout high school you just moped and moaned!" Percy shrugs slightly, obviously not caring. Nico's had enough and makes a frustrated sound. He points a finger at the black haired, green-eyed teen.

"Face it. She's dead, and you need help." Percy closes his eyes, and doesn't respond. Nico is afraid he's fallen asleep again, and he grits his teeth. Percy pokes an eye open, surprising Nico again.

"I will get help when I am ready," He says tiredly, "Until then I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up same time tomorrow. Okay?" He fluffs his pillow with his right hand, and turns away from Nico. Nico's now clenching and unclenching his fists, contemplating whether or not to strangle Percy. He decides not to, and just as Percy's light snores take up the room, he speaks.

"I'll find you help Percy. I promise."


	2. The Specialist

Rain's pouring. He can't stop the bleeding. It's coming. Who-what is it? No one answers. The woman's weak. He's too small. He's too heavy. They run, they climb. It's closer. It smells them. He moans, he roars. The boy slips, the woman tries to help them. They're too slow. The monster has caught up. It has the woman dangling at its hand. One last word choked out: "GO!". He tries to listen, but fear controls. The woman disappears leaving a stretching cloud of dust. He roars, taking thundering steps. Anger comes, fear steps aside. His hands are muddy, his hands are bloody. He leaves his friend on the hill. He steps out of the boundary, shouting at the one who killed the person he loves. He runs, the other charges. They meet in the middle. They fight, he slays. He staggers towards his friend on the hill, possibly bleeding. Definitely hurt. He sits on his knees next to his bleeding friend. Can he move him? Can he not? He takes the chance using his strength, dragging his friend down the other side of the hill. They don't go far. Fear and weakness overcome the boy once more, and he collapses, unconscious. But not before looking into the face of a girl. The girl.

He awakes when the raven-haired boy opens the puke colored curtains. Percy groans in pain as his eyes flutter open to meet the dreadful light. Percy silently begs Nico to close the curtains. Nico stares at his best friend as the tears begin to form. He blinks. "He's gotten too soft, too weak." Nico thinks. Nico tells Percy to get up. He says he wants Percy to meet someone. Percy's tired of Nico trying to have Percy 'Meet someone.' and simply says no. Nico puts his hand on his hips, huffing. He doesn't have time for this, he has three hours worth of homework (just from morning classes) and he skipped lunch for Percy. Nico's forced to tear the light blue sheets off of Percy. Percy curls up into a ball, trying to find a warmth. Nico wants to be a sympathetic old sap for the guy, but remembers he's on a mission. He takes hold of the older ones feet, and pulls. Percy hits the floor with a bang, and he groans loudly.

A FACT

Neither thought he' d ever be capable

of the sound ever again.

Nico thinks he's heard a snap. Percy shakily gets onto his knees, and Nico helps him to his feet, whispering encouraging words. There's a small flash in Percy's head. A memory. The memory of his whispering for Rachel to stay alive- to hold onto the pieces, not let go. Percy shudders, and Nico asks if he's cold. Percy shakes his head no, but Nico takes a small blanket and drapes it over Percy's pajama'd shoulders. Percy gives a small thank you, hugging the blanket tighter around him. Nico walks with Percy to the living room/kitchen. On a couch sits a woman with a small bag. Her hair's pulled into a sloppy bun, and wears mis-matched clothes. In honest, she looks better than Percy seeing as his pajamas are crumpled, and his hair is mangled, very untamed.

The woman with blonde hair looks at them, and when she sees her patient-Percy- she knows he's going to be difficult. Nico has Percy sit o his light brown couch. Percy ends up lying down on the couch, yawning. The woman reaches into her bag, pulling out a pad and a pencil. She scribbles something down on the paper. Percy looks at the woman again. A few strands of her blonde hair have fallen in front of her face, he raises an eyebrow, but you couldn't see it. She reminds him of someone. Unfortunately, he does not know whom, exactly. Nico sits awkwardly on the soft brown carpet. The room has a tension filled silence, but then Nico introduces himself, and urges Percy to do the same. The woman keeps her eyes on the problem-Percy-. She says her nickname quietly: "Anna."

She turns to Percy, but directs the question to Nico.

"Does he speak?" Nico cracks a grin, cracking his knuckles expertly.

"You didn't hear the complaining in the other room?" He jokes. Anna takes this seriously and writes this down in her notepad.

A FACT

She took most things seriously.

She nods, setting her pencil on her thigh. Percy, in his barely audible voice finally speaks.

"I speak." He only talks now because he's felt left out, he feels as though he's a person with an illness, and these two people are making fun of him, and testing on him. But Anna nods. She's making some type of progress. She was sure she was going to fix Percy. She could fix anything, positive. Nico gets up from the carpet, looking at the clock.

"Twelve O' five." He whispers, his eyes widening. He has fifteen minutes to get back to school.

A SMALL FACT

It's on the other side of town.

I'll be back around three." He says, walking quickly over to the countertop to grab his keys. He's out the door in a flash. As soon as Percy hears the door shut he gets into a sitting position.

"Sleep?" He asks hopefully. Anna shakes her head, more loose hairs falling. She's smiling slightly. Percy wonders if all women look this beautiful now. Seeing as though he hasn't seen the outside world since last year. Nico brings in his food, does his shopping, washes his clothes, gets his newspaper (which Percy usually doesn't look at.), and sometimes pays his bills. Percy realizes he wouldn't know what to do if Nico had ever left him. He'd be so lost. So dead inside. But he's dead inside now, and this is what the specialist is for. Percy's already thinking of a way to get rid of her. It's a little hard since he hasn't really thought for a long time. Anna scribbles something else on her notepad, and Percy realizes: She's cute. Percy scowls at himself. Junior year he promised he'd never think any way of a girl that way ever again.

Anna raises an eyebrow, but Percy ignores it as he curses once more.

"Percy," Anna asks in a gentle voice. Percy raises his eyes from his lap, to Anna's face.

"Yes?" He whispers.

"When was the last time you've gone outside? You're so…pale." Percy absentmindedly taps his feet together, making a small click.

"Last year…" He says looking down again. Anna gasps.

"Why haven't you gone outside?"

"I can't trust you." Percy says. He wants to trust her for some reason though. He wants to tell her what made him this way.

"You can trust me. I'm a Specialist. Everyone trusts me." Percy sighs. Every therapist says the same thing-except she said Specialist, not therapist. It's new. Percy stands from the couch. Anna stands with him, obviously not giving him the okay to leave. They stare into each other's eyes. Grey to green. Percy has another flash. It was him, and a blonde girl in an orange shirt staring at each other on a balcony. Percy's hands rise to his temples, and he staggers a step forward, rubbing his temples. Anna's face fills with concern-it's her job, Percy figures.

"Are you okay?" Anna asks. Percy doesn't answer, he's in pain. It's as though a concussion, migraine, headache, and a hangover had been merged together and tested on Percy. Percy felt hands on his shoulders and felt himself tense under the unexpected pressure. He wouldn't let anyone touch him except for Nico.

After the accident, Percy stayed away from people and people stayed away from Percy. He scared them in a way. But it was nothing in comparison to the fact that life and death haunted Percy. Not even his dreams were safe. Percy glared at the blonde twenty year old. It had no affect with the bags under his blood-shot eyes.

"Maybe we should stay inside for today." Anna offers.

"I wasn't planning on leaving." Percy growls. Anna winces, and Percy apologizes. A simple exchange. Anna asks Percy a few for questions that take a while to answer. Percy quietly, and tiredly answers half of them. He hadn't stayed up longer than two hours since last year. This was record-breaking. Anna plays a mind game to build self-confidence and intelligence, and to keep Percy awake.

Exactly at three O' clock, Nico comes to Percy's apartment soaking wet.

"It's raining outside and someone stole my bike." He explains, only shrugging. He looks around the apartment, surprised that nothing's broken. Percy asks if Anna will be back next week. Nico feels like he's been slapped in the face with the element of surprise. Nico nods and tells Percy he can go to sleep. Percy trudges back to his room, and Nico takes Ann out in the apartment's hall.

"What's your secret?" He asks her. Anna lets out a hearty two-second laugh and tells the sixteen year old she'll be back next week. She starts walking down the hallway, and Nico opens the apartment door back up. He can see her smiling as she turns the corner. He shakes his head with a small smile on his lips. He steps into the apartment, closing the door mumbling: "Specialists."


	3. The Dreamer

He can't feel himself. He doesn't remember the past events. The same dream replays in his head. He can feel something. It's going down his throat. It's warm. It tastes like cookies to the boy. He opens one eye, then the other. These are painful steps. He sees a girl. The girl. The one he saw the night before. He doesn't know what to say. Suddenly, images from the night before leak into his brain. He moans, and the girl shoves a spoon into his mouth. The liquid dribbles down his chin. The girl with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes asks him questions he cannot answer. She shoves more liquid into his mouth. He grows unconscious.

When he wakes the girl isn't in the room. A different blonde has replaced her. A man with eyes all over. He stands guard at the door, watching the boy. The boy feels uncomfortable, and he lies back in the makeshift bed and falls asleep.

Percy Jackson wakes up in his bed, his mouth open ready for a scream. The scream never comes. He looks around his apartment bedroom, his eyes resting on his clock.

12:04 it reads. Percy closes his eyes again, turning away from the clock. He wrinkles his nose as he tries to find a comfortable position. He ends up banging his head on the backboard of the bed. He curses such profanity that his mother would wash out his mouth with soap. He lies back down on his bed; his eyes are now open, just staring at the ceiling. He sighs, touching his forehead. He rubs it. He brings his hand down to his side, and closes his eyes again.

He's running. She's limping. They're both crying. People are right behind them. Bad people. People with guns, knives, etc. They try to be quiet, but they knock down trashcans. The boy curses, and the girl whimpers. The boy takes a risk; he scoops the girl up in his arms bridal-style. He thinks it is a good thing, but also a mistake. A good thing because there possibly won't be a trail of blood. A mistake because he can see her stomach wound, and he can barely support the girl with red hair's weight. They hear shouts behind them, and the girl moans the boy's name. The boy tells her to hold on, he tells her he'll get her help. He thinks he sees some sort of Safe-Haven further that-a-way. He tells the girl he thinks he's found their escape.

He runs. He runs as fast as he can. He hears the gunfire's of the one gang, and the people that were hunting him and Rachel. He winces as he hears the screams. He turns into an alleyway- the boy's first real mistake. He runs forward but slips in a puddle. He breaks the girl's fall, but hits his head on the cement. When he gently pushes the red head off of him, the boy has a throbbing pain in his head. A concussion. He tries to have the other girl get up. He also tries to carry her again. No such luck.

He hears footsteps coming, he tells her to stop moaning. To only be quiet. She disagrees with his statement, and keeps on moaning, whimpering and complaining. He ends up putting his hands over her mouth and nose, as the footsteps grow louder. A man speaks, his voice is gruff. He asks his friend if she thinks anyone is in here. The girl says no, the boy recognizes her as a person he had befriended off of the streets, and he mentally cusses her out. The two run from the entrance of the alley. The boy with black hair presses the girl against the brick wall, along with himself. The girl is gasping now, holding her bleeding stomach. The boy's attention immediately goes towards her again. He tells her to stay alive. He brushes back some of her red frizzy hair, laying a kiss on her cheek. The girl tells him she can't do it. The boy begs her to live. To hold onto the pieces-not let go. The girl doesn't respond. She never would. The boy whispered her name again and again. "Rachel," he whispered. "Rachel?" The boy had tears slipping down his face, and one landed on Rachel's cheek, sliding down slowly. A new pair of feet approached, and the boy hushed, staring into the lifeless green eyes of his best friend, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The people came further into the alley, they were wearing masks. The boy hoped that the shadows casted a darkness so dark the people in the gang wouldn't be able to see them. It was dark, but the people saw him anyway.

The man saw him first. He told his buddy that he'd found someone. The man crept close, and saw that the boy wasn't wearing a mask. He brought up his gun, hesitant. The man wondered how old the boy was, he seemed young. He was next to a girl. The boy looked up at the man, the boy's face was red and streaked with tears. The man shook his head and pulled the trigger three times, getting the boy in the hip, leg, and stomach. The boy cried out, falling right next to the girl. The two crept closer. They saw that the girl was already dead. The boy was gasping, and when he became quiet the two were sure that both were dead. They left the alleyway, but three blocks over was were they would be stabbed to death.

This time when Percy awoke, there was a scream bellowing from his mouth. He himself had tears dripping down his face, and his two hands were on his hip and stomach. He was sweating, and was pretty sure he'd wet the bed. His tears vanished from his eyes and his ragged breaths became nothing more than hiccups. He took his right hand off of his stomach to lift up his pajama pants. His hand delicately went over the bullet scar. "It wasn't as bad as what Rachel got." He thought bitterly. He looked at the clock.

4:59

Percy sighed; he stood up and almost dropped to the floor. He used his bed to get up onto his feet. Percy was right; he had wet his own bed. He started stripping down the sheets, tossing them to the floor. He got on different sheets, and different clothes. He didn't shower, though. It was too dangerous for him. The water, and slipperiness of it. Percy usually showered when Nico was with him, waiting right outside the door.

Percy figured there wasn't any use in trying to go back to sleep. He went out, and sat on the couch. He looked at the remote, then his television. He tried to remember what televisions did. He racked his brain for any information on it. He shrugged and picked up the remote. He pressed a button, but nothing happened. He pressed a different button. He pressed a button that said REC. another that said DVR he even pressed a button that said Buy PP. That made him smile a little, and his immature brain made fun of the stupid TV remote. He tried one more button that said ON. The TV slowly crackled to life. The brightness of it burned Percy's eyes, but he kept on looking at it. He pressed numbers on the remote, and the TV flipped to different stations. When he came across a TV show that he liked, he settled on the couch. His hand had a cramp, and he flexed, wincing as he heard a muscle crack. He laid his head back on the armrest of the couch; he was now looking at his front door. His eyes stayed on the door, unmoving. His eyes burned, and he closed them. He felt a stinging sensation. He closed his eyes again and again. He eventually just kept them closed, and went off into one of his long dreams.

"Wake up," A voice whispered, "C'mon, you can do it." A groan from the infamous Percy Jackson.

"Wake up. Don't make me push you off the couch…" A warning tone. A useless kick.

"Did you just make a movement to kick me? Little bugger…" The teen purses his lips together. Suddenly, Percy Jackson was on the floor again, glaring at the beaming teen.

"Told you I'd push you off the couch." Nico said. He put his hands in his pockets.

"Your breakfast is on the counter. Have you brushed your teeth or showered yet?" Nico asked.

"Obviously not." Percy said standing up without Nico's help. Percy's a good foot and a half taller than Nico. Nico raises an eyebrow as Percy heads off to the counter for his food. Nico snaps his fingers.

"I do not appreciate your tone." He says. Percy rolls his eyes, opening up a bottle of orange juice.

"Sorry mother." He apologizes jokingly.

"Mhm. Better not be trying to mess with me." Nico mumbles. He goes off to Percy's room. He comes out with his nose wrinkles.

"Did you wet yourself in there?" Percy doesn't answer. "Gross! Dude, your urine is so strong! You could take out the entire population of Canada with that stench!" Nico complains, and complains. Percy watches him with interest as he slowly chews his eggs. After a couple minutes into the complaining, Nico looks at Percy.

"Were you even listening to me?" He asks. Percy nods his head.

"Oh yeah." He nods his head up and down. Nico looks at Percy with an I-Know-You're-Lying look.

"Yeah-Yeah, go take a shower you little nasty thing." Percy bites his bacon.

"But I'm not done!" He says with his mouth still full.

"Now you are." Nico walks by him, swiftly taking the plate and dumping its contents in the trash.

"An evil one you are." Percy says getting up from his chair. He goes to his bathroom, but before he goes in he says: "Lay my clothes out on the bed please!" Nico responds "Okay."

Some of Percy's clothes are out on the bed in less than five minutes. Percy comes out with a towel wrapped around his waist and Nico quickly leaves the room, making sure to shut the door. When Percy's dressed he comes out to Nico.

"Hey, these aren't my sleep clothes." He says pointing down to the t-shirt and jeans Nico had laid out on the bed.

"Oh, I hadn't noticed, what a shame." Nico says, looking at the clock.

"She's supposed to be here right now! Oh my gods, school starts in thirty minutes!" He taps his foot on the ground impatiently. Percy notices.

"Nico, what are you planning?" He asks.

"Oh nothing special…" The doorbell buzzes.

"Yes!" Nico exclaims.

"Nico!" Percy calls. Nico's already answered the door. Standing in the hallway is the specialist, Anna. She's in jeans and a band t-shirt, and she wears a smile.

"Hey." She says. Percy's stone like face drags into a smirk-the closest thing he'll get to a smile.

"Hey." The boys say. Nico runs a hand through his hair. Percy's arms are crossed over his chest.  
"What's going on here?" He asks.

"You haven't told him?" Anna asks. Percy's eyes widen in fear for a second, but shrink back to normal size.

"Told me what?"

"That you're going to spend a day outside with Anna. Oh look at the time gotta go!" Nico says quickly, and then runs out the door. Percy gapes at Nico's retreating figure. He looks at Anna.

"You're kidding me, right?" He asks, Anna shrugs.

"It's one of the ways to get rid of your problems." Anna is the first person to say he has problems. Other therapists cover it up. Percy seems to like Anna more for the fact that she's not afraid to state a truth.

Percy can feel himself shaking.

"Can't we just spend a nice time inside?" He asks, and Anna shakes her head.

"No. Sorry. We better get going now if we want to end this by five." Anna takes his hand and Percy's eyes widen. He recoils his hand.

"Don't. Touch. Me." He hisses.

"Sorry." Anna apologizes. Percy closes his eyes and counts to five.

"It's okay." He says after a long moment of silence.

"Okay well, ready for your first day back outside?" Anna puts on a fake chirpy voice. There would be no dreaming his way out of this. Percy answers truthfully.

"No."


	4. The Boyfriend

Percy takes a step back, handling the knob of the door with his fingers.

"Percy, what are you doing? The exit is that way?" Anna points behind herself. Percy nods.

"I know I just…" He doesn't finish his sentence because he runs back inside, shutting the door on the blonde.

"Jackson! You better open up this door right now!" Anna calls banging on the door. Percy shakes his head even though he knows she can't see it. His heart is beating 100 miles per hour.

"At least let me change into more comfortable clothes." Percy says through the door. There's shuffling of feet.

"…Fine." She says after a moment of silence. Percy feels himself smile as he heads over to his room taking off his shirt. He goes to one of his droors and opens it. It squeaks since it hadn't been opened in such a long time. He picks out a random long sleeve shirt and pulls it over his head. It's black. He puts the white graphic tee back on messing up his hair even more. He goes to his closet. He pulls out one of his dark blue jackets.

You're probably wondering why he has a jacket if he rarely goes outside. Well, he has the jacket because in the colder months he doesn't turn up the heat. It's like a punishment for not dying with Rachel. He thinks he can freeze himself to death, and if that doesn't work just sleep his life away.

He grabs another jacket, this one's black. It's leather and he puts it on over the hoodie. He grabs the glasses Nico had left behind and sets them on the bridge of his nose. When he opens the door Annabeth gapes at him.

"You're kidding me right? It's seventy-five degrees out there!" She exclaims. "You'll burn up." She adds. Percy shrugs.

"More of the reason for me not to even go out there." He says. Anna rolls her eyes.

"Percy, we've been doing this for four weeks! You've been coping out so well, I think you're ready." She grabs his left hand and Percy looks at their entwined hands then back up at her.

"Well okay…" He mumbles stupidly. He mentally scolds himself for being so love drunk. Anna smiles a bright smile and Percy feels himself give a small smile. They start walking down the hallway hands still clamped together. People look at Percy in a foreign way. They haven't really seen him. They barely know him.

When they reach the front door Percy halts, all confidence that he was trying to gain gone. His nose twitched.

"Do we really have to do this?" He asks taking a small step back.

"Yes!" Anna cries.

"But it all seems so sudden." Percy says. Anna lets go of Percy's hand and he misses the warmth.

"I don't think I can do it." Percy says.

"When do you think you can do it?" Anna asks. Percy shrugs.

"I don't know. Never?" He says. He walks over to one of the lobby benches next to a fake tree. Anna sits next to him.

"You have to go outside sometime, Percy." Anna tries to comfort him. Percy finds himself muttering: "What if they find me? What if they find me? What if they find me? What if they find me? I can't let them find me? What if they send me back? I don't want to go back to the camp. The camp. The camp. I can't go back. What if they find me?"

The mumbling scares Anna. "Percy?" She asks. He doesn't respond.

"Percy?" She says again. Percy's shaking and attracting some attention in the lobby. His mumbling has become a little bit louder and his eyes are wandering in a frantic way all over the room.

Anna puts her hand on Percy thigh and Percy looks at her. His mumbling has stopped and he's biting his lip. He's not tensing up which is an improvement. A single drop of blood runs down his chin. He wipes it away with his right hand.

"Are you okay?" She asks him. "You don't seem like you right now. Who are They? What camp?" Percy looks at her.

"How do you know about the camp?" He asks, scooting away from her. Her hand slaps the wood of the bench.

"You were mumbling about it. Do you feel okay?" She asks again.

"I don't know," A head shake, "I really don't know." He looks at her.

"Anna, I really don't think I can go outside right now. I just don't feel ready. Can we do it in a few months or something?" Anna shrugs, but nods.

"When your ready." They notice that every one is looking at them.

"There's nothing to see here." Anna says.

"Yeah, go back to your, uh, your stuff." Percy says. They slowly continue to their cliché conversations, and the kids start annoying their parents or playing with other kids. The receptionist looks as bored as anything and the two people on the bench look back at each other.

"Thanks." Percy says and Anna nods.

"This doesn't mean your getting out of this weeks session." Percy groans and complains as Anna drags him up the stairs. They can't go into elevators because of Percy claustrophobia. When they get back into his apartment Percy tosses both of his jackets aside.

All through the lesson he stares at Anna. For some odd reason he has some sort of attraction to her. It's a friendly attraction, of course. Well, at least Percy thinks it's friendly. At the end Anna gets a phone call. She tells Percy to hold on. Percy wonders if Anna has a boyfriend. She's too pretty not to. Percy scolds himself quietly. She hands up with a tired expression.

"Who was that?" Percy asked. Anna pockets her phone.

"My boyfriend. She says. Percy feels his small close-to-nothing smile drop to well, nothing.

"Boyfriend." Percy states, having a sudden interest in his shoes.

"Yeah. His name's Luke. He was worried since I was here so long. I better get going." She says. They walk to the door together.

"Okay. Bye." Percy said. For some odd reason he feels the urge to get back into bed. To never come out, no matter how much anyone pleads.

"Alright. See you next week." Percy shrugs.

"Maybe. Maybe not." Anna doesn't question what Percy says because she thinks he's just joking. She gives him a smile which he doesn't return and opens the door. She walks down the hallway, and for the first time, Percy hopes she doesn't come back.


	5. The Last Resort

He lies in his bed. He's not asleep, but his eyes are shut tight. He turns to the right, then the left. He pulls the covers over his messy hair. He still can't sleep. He also can't get the words out of his head "My boyfriend." Anna had told him. The words kept replaying in his mind.

"I'm here," Nico shuts the door. He's been getting louder around Percy and Percy hates it. He decided he wasn't going to open up to anyone. He knew he sounded like a total man she-dog, but he didn't care at the moment. Nico opened the door to Percy's room.

"Your life just got better." He flashed Percy a smile. Percy doesn't respond. His eyes are still closed.

"Don't tell me you're asleep!" Nico doesn't get an answer. Nico grumbles as he marches over to Percy. He leans down next to his face.

"Percy, wake up." He whispers. There's something of a stench on his breath. Percy thinks he knows it, he just can't remember it- if that makes any sense. Nico shakes Percy's shoulder.

"Wake up, man." Percy opens his eyes.

"Anna's outside the apartment." Nico wiggles his eyebrows. Nico knew there was some sort of thing going on between Percy and Anna.

"Tell her to go away." Percy says simply shutting his eyes again even though he's wide awake. Nico's eyebrows furrow at this. He doesn't know what's up with Percy's sudden change, but he doesn't like it.

"I'll tell her to go away when it's the end of the lesson." Nico says. There's a knock on the door.

"Nico, do you have him up yet?" Anna impatiently asks. Nico looks at Percy. Percy shakes his head in a Do-Not-Respond-Truthfully-To-That! manner . So of course, Nico doesn't answer.

"What's wrong?" Nico asks, sitting in the old wooden chair a few steps behind him.

"I just don't want to see her." For a second, Percy looks like the guy he was two months ago. A weak, mindless, sleepy, no life nine-teen year old. You could see the sadness creeping into his face. Of course, he was still like that now but a little more improved thanks to Anna.

"Why not?" Nico asked, trying to get Percy to open up. Percy shrugs and you can hear his back cracking. They both wince. Percy doesn't answer and Nico runs a hand through his knotty hair. He juts his bottom lip out, forming a slightly attractive pout. He looks at Percy's figure (which now has his back turned).

"Fine." He mutters. He goes back outside where Anna's waiting.

"Where is he?" She asks. Nico shakes his head.

"He doesn't want to come out. Sorry, I'll pay you anyway." Anna wonders why he doesn't want to come out. Was it something she did? Something she said? Or was this just a lazy day for him? She didn't know. Only when Nico started taking out his wallet did she snap back into focus.

"Oh no, I don't need that." She said taking a step back. Nico bites his lip.

"But I want to pay you." He says. He already has the money-cash- in his hand. It's his work money but he doesn't care.

"But you don't need to. I haven't had a lesson with him this week." Nico shrugs.

"I forgot to pay you last week. You left before I could come back." He says, and he knows he got her there. She rolls her eyes.

"Well then Nicholas…" She trails off and Nico's bottom lip juts out further. Anna thinks it's cute.

"There's no need to bring the full names into this." He says and Anna smiles what he thinks is a million dollar smile.

"Next week?" Anna asks, shouldering her shoulder bag.

"Oh gods yes." Nico replies a little too quickly. Anna raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Uh, sure. If you know, he's up." Nico says scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Anna smiles again.

"Okay. Until then." She waves and walks down the hallway. Nico goes back inside the apartment, and onto the small balcony. He watches Anna as she goes to her car in the parking lot. It's a gray buggie. When she rives off, Nico takes a box out of his pocket. He opens it and picks a stick out of it. More specific, a cigarette. He takes a lighter out of the other pocket and lights the so said cigarette. He stuffs it into the side of his mouth, inhaling the smoke but not swallowing it. He takes the cigarette out and blows, watching the smoke with interest as it floated away. Nico leans against the railing, and he coughs.

Why is he smoking? You might find yourself asking. One word: stress. There's Percy to take care of, so he has to give Percy food, buy him clothes. Everything. Then he's being bullied at school for looking so gothic. The first person he likes is a senior. To just top it all off is his parents have been fighting. So, this led to smoking.

Nico had seen people smoke before. Street corners, bars, and some other places. He knew the dangers. He also knew he shouldn't be smoking. At first it seemed dangerous to him. He looked at the example of the man who once smoked himself: Percy. He smoked when he was young and he's not turning out so well.

But at the sad moment Nico didn't care. He just needed something to make him get his mind off of everything. Everything the world had pushed at him at once. "I'm just a sophomore!" He would think bitterly to himself. He licked his lips and he could taste the nicotine on them. He smiled a cheeky grin, blowing out another puff of smoke.

He was cutting his life into pieces. He coughed once more, hacking up some gooey brown stuff. He stared at it in disgust as it hit the floor. You could see this was his last resort.


	6. The Friend

Percy was dreaming of barn yard animals demanding for food when there was a knock on the door. Since his senses are alert at all times, he shot up in bed instantly. He looked around the room, trying to find out where the noise had come from. Someone knocked on the door again. Percy slowly got out of bed, rubbing away the sleep in his eyes. He trudged towards the door, left hand reaching out sightlessly for the knob. When he grabbed the knob, he pushed himself against the door looking out of the eyehole into the hallway. A woman stood there biting her lip.

_Anna?_

Percy thought. What was she doing here? Percy opened up the door, looking at Anna.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was slurred, making him sound drunk. He found his eyes traveling down to the bags beside her. Anna reached down, grabbed the bags and shuffled into his apartment, Percy in tow. Anna's back was to Percy, but when Percy shut the door she turned around to him.

Percy had just just noticed that her nose was a light pink and the area around her eyes were crusted over. She had been crying.

"You haven't had any progress, Percy." Anna tells him. Percy shrugs, obviously not caring.

"And so I have to stay here." Anna states. Percy's eyes widen, now he's awake.

"Wait, what?" He asks, scratching his bare chest confusedly.

"Since we've made very little progress in the last few weeks because you didn't want me coming over here, I have to stay here now." Anna says much more slowly. Percy makes a face and shakes his head, hair flying everywhere.

"No." He says simply. Anna's eyes widen.

"Huh?" She asks.

"Get. Out." He says. Anna's mouth is now agape.

"I can't." Anna says.

"Yes you can. It's fairly simple. You walk out this door, and go. It's three in the morning!"

"I really can't go." Anna says looking down. Percy raises an eyebrow.

"And why is that?" He asks. Anna doesn't answer for a while. When she does look up at him, she's biting her lip.

""I have no where to go." Her face is twisted into a hurt expression. Percy scoffs, obviously not believing her.

"Yeah right. Just go, I'll see you tomorrow anyways." He says.

"I lived with Luke," Percy clenches his fists, "And we broke up two days ago. He kicked me out." Percy's face falls and Anna looks down again.

"Oh." He says.

"So can I stay here?" Anna asks quietly. Percy looks around the small apartment. Would they fit? The bed's a queen. Percy could sleep on the pull out couch…

"I guess." Percy mumbles. Anna steps forwards and gives Percy a small, quick hug.

"Thanks. So, where…?" She asks.

"You can sleep in my room I guess. I'll sleep on the pull-out." He explains. "Give me a second." He goes into his room, trying to straighten everything out. He puts some dirty pants into a hamper, tries to tidy up the bed. Something. When he comes out of his room, Anna's looking around the apartment like she did the first time she was here.

"Everything's ready to go. Make yourself at home or whatever." Percy says. He has a blanket in his arms.

"Okay. Thanks again. By the way, I'm looking at apartments so I'll be out of here pretty soon." Anna says walking into Percy's room. Before Percy can respond, the door is shut.

Percy sighs in frustration and starts to pull out the couch. When it's all out, he lays down on it. He can't go to sleep. The couch is very uncomfortable, and his back keeps on tensing up whenever he moves. Morning comes fast, and Nico's in the room. He's whistling and snapping his fingers, doing little head bobs.

"Well that's not the first thing I want to see in the morning." Percy mumbles and Nico jumps.

"Oh gosh!" He says.

"Do you have breakfast?" Percy asks. Nico shakes his head holding up a bag.

"Do you count Panda Express as breakfast?" Percy shrugs. He's okay with Panda Express though, since they serve abnormally large portions.

"It's all right, because dude get this," Percy pauses, trying to build up suspense "Anna's staying with me."

"What?" Nico's voice is louder now. Percy holds up his hands.

"Temporarily of course. She says once she has enough money she's out." Percy says, grabbing the bag from Nico, going to the small table.

"That must suck. I know you like her." Nico says. Percy's cheeks go a bright red. Percy puts his head down, hoping his hair will cover it.

"Do not." He refuses.

"Okay," Nico says in a sing-song voice "Whatever you say." Percy's hand swings out and hits Nico in the stomach. Nico's hands immediately fly there, and he starts coughing.

"You okay?" Percy asks. Nico nods, and holds up a finger. He coughs something up into the sink, and wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"I'm fine, never better." Nico says.

"But you my friend are very sick." Nico says changing the subject with a smile.

"No I'm not. I'm fine too." Percy says scraping some chow mien into a plastic bowl.

"Dude, you're love sick." He says, and Percy rolls his eyes.

"Am not."

"Am too."

"Am not."

"Percy's got a crush! Percy's got a crush!" Nico says excitedly. Percy's nose twitches because he recognizes what Nico smells like. Once he puts the bowl in the microwave, he turns towards Nico.

"Nico, are you-" Someone interrupts Percy by clearing their throat. They both turn to the noise. There stands Anna, looking as awkward as ever.

"Uh, hi." She says. Her hair's a bird's nest. She's wearing a baggy T-shirt and some sweats. It's not much but Percy feels himself smiling.

"Hello." The boys both say in unison. Nico's smiling and Percy's smirking. Anna walks up to them with an annoyed expression on her face.

"You guys are creepy, you know that?" She states.

"The creepiest." Nico says.

"So what's for breakfast?" Anna asks.

"Chow mien and orange chicken." She looks at Nico with her eyebrows raised.

"From Panda?"

"It was the best I could do! Maybe I should just stop bringing food if you're not grateful for it, gosh." Anna rolls her eyes and pinches Nico's left cheek.

"You overreact, honey." She says laughing her short laugh. Nico blushes. It looks weird on his very pale skin. Nico takes Anna's hand off of his cheek, looking at the clock.

"I better go if I want to get to Hell on time." He says. Percy looks at Nico with a confused expression on his face, along with Anna.

"School. It's basically- ah forget it. The point is lost." He says throwing his hands up in the air.

"See you guys later." He says walking out the door. When he's gone, Percy gives Anna the bowl of chow mien and orange chicken, then starts to heat him up some more.

When they're both done eating, they're in a silence. The session usually starts at twelve. It's nine thirty.

"That's quite a friend you got there." Anna says. Percy nods.

"Yeah, Nico's the best." He says, a smirk coming upon his features.

"You got any friends?" Percy asks, and Anna rolls her eyes.

"Well, duh. I have a couple."

"Name 'em off." Percy says, shifting positions on the couch.

"Let's see…Thalia, Grover, Silena, Clarisse sorta-" Percy's eyes are bulging.

"A couple? That's more than a couple!"

"Shut up and let me finish, Seaweed Brain." Percy's about to fight, but he catches himself.

"Seaweed Brain? Where did that come from?" He asks.

"I dunno, but it hurts your feelings, doesn't it?" She asks smiling.

"Yes, it does. And aren't you supposed to talk very nicely to me?" He asks.

"Pft! I'm not on the clock right now. I can talk to you however I want to right now. Now can you let me finish?" She tells him. Percy sighs, but tells her to go on.

"Beckondorf, Travis, Connor, Zoë," She looks at him. "And you." Percy's eyes widen slightly.

"You consider me a friend?" He asks. Anna nods.

"Yep. Don't make me regret it." Percy can feel himself smile, a full out teeth showing smile. Anna gasps quietly, and Percy can't get the grin off of his face.

"I consider you a friend too." Percy says. This time Anna smiles, eyes more intense than before.

"Good."


	7. The Dream

He's healed. He roams, ending up on a porch. He watches as the light clouds stretch upon the light blue sky, and the sun peaks through the clouds. He sighs, enjoying the sight. His friend-the one that was bleeding- Grover, comes next to him. He says hello, and the boy almost jumps. He flinches instead. He tells his friend not to do that, and his friend with the furry legs apologizes. The boy- Percy his name was- now notices that there's a shoebox tucked under Grover's left arm. He asks what it is, and the satyr smirks. He balances the shoebox on the wooden rail, still holding onto it, and takes the lid off. Percy peaks inside. When he sees the brutal thing inside he winces. Sitting inside of the box is the broken horn of the Minotaur. At the tip rests its own dried blood. Percy takes the lid from Grover and places it back over the shoebox. Grover starts walking down the porch and around the corner. Percy looks in wonder after his best friend, and after thirty seconds, follows him. Percy finds himself still on the porch, but on a different side. On this different side there's a table which two men are playing some sort of card game. One of the men has overly-greased curly black hair, and a small jet-black goatee. He wears a purple dress shirt, but the first four buttons are unbuttoned, showing everyone the mans hairy chest.

The other man Percy knows. It's his old teacher. There's something different about him though. He seems much more confidant and focused. The man with the curly black hair cries out in protest, for it is obvious that the boys' teacher had one. Finally, the two take notice in the two standing there. A look of mock surprise reaches them both. His teacher stands up. He's confused by this motion because his teacher is- was- chair-bind. The boy looks down, and sees that his teacher's legs are really hairy. After a while of staring him down he realizes his teacher has horse legs. Before the boy could even make a sound, his teacher stops him by only saying one word.

"Percy," He says smiling. "Take a seat. Play with us." Percy's eyebrows furrow at this. Percy wants answers; he doesn't want to play a silly card game. He wants to know where he is, why he's there. Who had killed his mom.

But Percy sits down with Grover anyway. They hand him a pile of cards, and Percy looks at them. He's confused by what's on some of them. A naked lady, a dude with a crown and a mustache holding another person's hand. Then on others there were only numbers. The man with curly black hair sighs in frustration.

"You're not supposed to look at them!" He exclaims. His voice isn't as deep as Percy had imagined. Percy asks what he's supposed to do and the man barks with laughter. The boy's teacher, Chiron, rubs his forehead.

"Dionysus, be nice to the boy." Dionysus stops laughing, glaring at Chiron. As they go step by step into the game, Percy's mentally screaming questions. At the end of the game when Chiron had one, Grover had gone through two tin cans, and Dionysus had a small fit, he got some answers. But none had any hints on his mother. It seemed around three, and Percy found his stomach grumbling. He's been on the porch for what he believes to be an hour at the least. A girl- the blonde one from before- steps onto the porch. She leans onto the railing with her fingers knotted together.

"You wanted to see me?" She asks. Percy feels himself smile slightly.

"Hm?" Dionysus looks up from his wine magazine. Once he sees the girl he nods slightly. "Oh, yes. We need you to show the brat around. Tell Luke to get him a spot ready in the cabins." The girl nods, motioning with her finger for the boy to stand up. He does so immediately, walking over to the girl. He'd go as fast as he needed to get off the porch.

Grover had left a few minutes earlier to go to a Council meeting and Chiron had just vanished somewhere. Dionysus had been going on and on about different wines.

"Don't go just yet." Dionysus groaned. Percy slowly winced.

"This young lady brought you to a healthy stage." Percy looks towards the figure. Her heads down, and she's wearing a baseball cap. Yankees.

"Uh, thanks?" Percy says but it turns to be a statement. He wanted to say something cool to her, but he thought he ended up saying it lamely.

"You drool in your sleep." Was the only way she replied. Percy's sea green eyes widened and he subconsciously wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The girl took off down the porch with the boy in tow, telling her to wait up. They end up near a cabin. You can hear people yelling inside.

"What's this place?" Percy asks, his eyebrows furrowing once more.

"This place is where you'll be staying." The girl answered. The boy didn't know her name. He didn't even know what her face looked like. All he knew was that she had blonde hair. Something inside crashed and the girl took a deep breath, opening the door.

It was a total mess. Sleeping bags and rejected piles of clothing on the floor. It smelt like sweaty armpit, the air was hot and hard to breathe in. To make it even worse there was some sort of fight going on between the campers.

"It's my pillow!" One boy said almost raising his voice.

"It's mine. It was on my sleeping bag." Replied a brown haired girl.

"Because you bloody stole it you thief you!" He has a slight UK accent and his voice squeaks near the end of his sentence. It's obvious he's going through a stage of puberty.

"Why I oughta-" The girl starts raising her fist, but someone steps in between them. He has short blonde hair, and piercing brown eyes. He catches the girl's fist with a calm expression.

"Jennifer, it's Tommy's pillow. I saw you take it this morning." He says.

"Ha!" The guy. Tommy exclaims pointing a finger.

"But it's not fair that all the unclaimed get our pillows!" The guy shrugs it off.

"Win some you lose some." He finally catches sight of the two people in the doorway. The girl next to Percy's side shifts and starts messing with her ponytail and makes her clothes straighter. There are a few giggles from girls in bunks. The guy walks over to them, studying them with his piercing blue eyes intently.

"Percy, this is Luke." The girl says, you could hear the smile in her voice. "He's your cabin leader." Luke smiles. Some people have quieted down to watch the scene.

"Determined or undetermined?" Someone asks. The girl puts her hands in he pockets, looking down.

"Undetermined." Some people groan in unison while others complain to their cabin mates. Percy wants to run out the door for some odd reason. To him it is obvious that no one wants him hear. Luke clears his throat loudly.

"Guys, guys," He says making everyone quiet. He looks at Percy.

"What's your name, kid?" He asks in a whisper.

"Percy." The boy replies back.

"Percy," Luke stops, looking back at Percy then at his mates "Is our new cabin mate. We are going to treat him with respect. No pranks, no stealing," Percy sighs inwardly, but his cheeks are aflame. Had Luke just stood up for him? No one had ever done that before…

"Without me." Luke finished and the cabin burst out into laughter. Percy feels his shoulders slump. Luke hadn't been standing up for him. The girl fidgets with her necklace; four beads and a golden ring.

"Let's finish the tour, Percy." Says the girl. Luke's eyes travel down to Percy's hands.

"You might want to put down your stuff first Percy…" He says eyeing the Minotaur horn in his hands.

"Oh no you don't Luke. You said yourself, no stealing!" She accuses him. He holds his hands up.

"Son of Hermes; sorry, I can't help myself." He apologizes. The girl punches his shoulder and Luke winces pretending to be hurt.

"Just go on with your tour, kid." He winks at the girl.

"Uh-yeah. C'mon newbie." She tells Percy. She quickly leaves the cabin with the black haired pre-teen in tow.

"What was that back there?" He asks as they settle into a walking pace. The girl turns towards him. The baseball cap still shadows her face, and he can't see her face. It's starting to annoy him, and he's just thinking about ripping it off.

"What was what?" She asks, stuffing her hands in her blue-jean pockets.

"That thing between you and Luke. He winked, you stuttered." Percy says, and then bites his lip. He has a feeling that this girl likes Luke. He thinks it's wrong. Luke looked around the age of twenty and the girl is his age. Twelve. How weird is that? Wouldn't that make Luke a pedophile if they ever got together?

"That was nothing." The girl snapped. "We're friends…close friends…" She suddenly stops walking.

"Why am I even answering your questions?" She wonders out loud. "You should be answering my questions!" She exclaims, madly waving her hands in the air.

"What do you mean your questions?" Asks Percy.

"What's starting at the summer solstice? Why are the gods so secretive? Why has Chiron been acting so strange?" She asks and Percy holds up his hand defensively.

"I don't know!" His voice squeaks. "I really don't know what you're talking about." The girl face palms, but it's sort of hard because she's wearing a cap.

"I can't believe I thought…" She mumbles. He strains to hear the rest of her sentence, but cannot.

"Thought, what?" He asks raising an eyebrow. The girl sighs deeply.

"I just thought that you were-"

"Well if it ain't the newbie and Blondie!" A gruff voice says from behind them. Percy expects it to be some guy but when he turns around he finds a girl and a couple people standing behind her making a triangle. Shadows from the trees danced along their faces. The girl who Percy had guessed spoken had knot infested brown hair, dark brown eyes, and was wearing a very big football jersey.

"I heard you fainted on the hill," She starts, "Was it from seeing Blondie?" The girl with the baseball cap and blonde hair stamps her foot in frustration.

"You know my name Clarissa!" She says. The older girl growls.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." She falls her fist.

"I don't understand why you want everyone to call you Clarisse" The girl with blonde hair exclaims. Percy wants to tell her to shut her trap. This girl- Clarisse looked like she could pound them to a pulp.

"Do you think anyone would be afraid of me if my name is Clarissa? Clarisse sounds more…tough." Clarisse settles for.

"Either name, I'm not afraid of you." Clarisse and her friends bark with laughter. Clarisse holds up her right hand and her friends stop laughing immediately.

"Let's see if your newbie friend is." She smiles cruelly. Percy thinks one thought: "Uh oh."

When Percy wakes, his facial expression is twisted into a confused one. What was that? Why was he seeing his twelve-year old self? Who was that girl? Why wouldn't she show him her face, tell him her name? That one girl, Clarisse, was she about to beat him up? Why would Percy want to dream that? Why was Percy dreaming this? It seemed as though all these unwanted dreams kept on coming towards him.

And worst of all he couldn't stop them.


	8. The Breaking Point

Sleep Your Life Away,

Part Two

Featuring: A Breaking Point, Dreams, Being Caught, The World, A Reason, A Face, A Name, An explanation, A Dream Cycle, and Death.

He's sitting on the couch, shifting through the channels on the TV; but he wasn't paying attention. Images of the previous dream are replaying in his head, though some parts are foggy and already fading. Anna was still sleeping. Percy wonders why _he_ isn't sleeping. He should be the one sleeping, living up to his mission. To try to die in his sleep, and live with Rachel. Thinking back to his dream, he wonders if he would have been hurt in the dream if he hadn't woken up.

The door rattles, and Percy jumps, falling to the floor uncontrollably. Nico walks in the room without his usual chirp. He sets the small bag in his hand on the counter.

"There's your food." Nico's voice is raspy, and he's paler than usual.

"You alright? I think you're paler than me!" Nico nods.

"Just fine." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he makes his way over to the couch.

"Perce, I got some news." Nico's voice is low, almost in the whisper he used when Percy's ears were vulnerable. Percy climbs back onto the couch, biting his lip.

"Good or bad?" Nico only shrugs.

"Depends on how you take it." Percy looks away from Nico with his eyebrows raised.

"Well, _crap_," After a moment he says, "Go on. Tell me." Nico takes a deep breath.

"You should go to a mental hospital." He says. Percy leads on the shocked silence. His stomach twisted painfully, and Percy winces.

"What?" He chokes out. His voice doesn't sound the same. It's quieter and lower.

"I think you should go to a mental hospital. My mom and dad aren't so happy that me, a minor, am taking care of you. At the hospital, Anna can still be your Specialist. It's just that-"

"Do I have a say?" Percy asks angrily.

"Well," Nico tries to start, but Percy cuts him off.

"Oh yeah, I'm the kinda unstable dude, so that means I obviously can't decide anything for myself." Percy's raising his voice. Nico shakes his head.

"It's not like that." Nico replies standing.

"Really? Then what is it like?" Percy stands up with his statement. They're in a strong tension.

"I just think this will be best. Nurses and certified doctors can take care of you. I hear the food isn't that bad…"

"I want you out." Percy speaks over Nico.

"What?" Nico asks.

"I want you out of my home, and out of my life." Nico looks at the door, then Percy with a pained expression.

"Go on, go." Percy gestures to the door. Nico's nose twitches as he takes the heavy steps to the front door. He opens it, and then looks back at Percy one last time with a fierce glare settling in his eyes.

"You're making a big mistake." He says.

"You're the one to be talking, you know, since you smoke." Percy retorts. Nico shoots another glare then shuts the door.

_What had he done? _

Hearing a door open, suspecting it's Nico to apologize, he opens his mouth ready to mouth him off. But Nico isn't at the front door. Turning around he sees Anna. She's staring at him, looking at him up and down as his fists clench and unclench.

"What are you looking at?" Anna doesn't respond. The silence only makes him madder.

"What are you looking at?" Percy screams at her.

"You wanna go too? Go just like he did? I can't depend on anybody, can I?" Anna doesn't say anything.

"What are you still looking at? Go!" Anna retreats into the room, slightly whimpering.

Percy sits down onto the couch, and runs a hand through his hair. He let one tear come out. Two, then three. And suddenly he was just bawling.

Everything in his life was falling apart.


	9. The Caught

Percy's been waiting two and a half hours for Anna to come out of her room. He feels so bad about what he'd said. They were almost the exact words he had said to Rachel. Percy's head thuds against the bathroom door. Staring at the room across it (Anna's room.) his breathing becomes shallow.

He feels so bipolar. At one minute he's furious at her. Trying to blame everything on her. Trying to blame his life on her. Then, he wants to kill her. Make her just be gone. And then, just randomly, he wants to love her. He wants to hug her tight, whisper things to her. Do all the things he wished he'd done to Rachel, to Anna. It was wish he thinks he could never fulfill.

Taking a step forward, he presses his hands and forehead onto the door. He takes a shaky breath before speaking.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have taken any of my frustrations out on you. It was wrong." He apologizes. No response.

He feels like an idiot, just standing out there in the hallway. Waiting. Waiting for a person who could have possibly fallen asleep in the room. Wrinkling his nose, he reaches down and jiggles the knob. It's still locked. Defeated, he starts to walk down the small hallway to the couch. He's not even half-way down the hallway when the door opens and Anna peaks her head out.

Percy quickly (and abnormally) runs into the room, shutting the door, leaning against it. Anna backs up. "Please, don't kill me." She whispers. Percy's mouth falls agape as he pictures the dead image of Rachel. He had no intention of…

"I'll try not to." He finally answers. It's not a promise. It's not a lie, and it's not reassuring. They stare into each others eyes, breathing heavily. The tension in the room is strong.

"Why'd you do that to Nico? He was only trying to do you best." She says, using her Specialist voice. Percy hated that voice. It was fake.

"He's not trying to do me best. He's trying to get rid of me." Percy says looking down.

"No, his parents…his life is just…" Anna trails off.

"Easier than mine." Percy finishes. Anna shakes her head, blonde curls flying.

"His life is hard. His parents are fighting. He's being bullied for dressing the way he does. Nico also gets teased because he's homosexual." There's a damp silence.

_Nico's a homosexual? Why didn't he tell me?_

Percy asks in his mind. His arms fall limp and his eyebrows furrow. He bites his lip.

"And…did you know that he-" Percy holds up his right hand.

"Yeah, I know the kid smokes. I can smell it on his breath." He says. Anna nods, looking down.

"But taking care of me could be a joy though, right?" He asks hopefully. Anna shrugs.

"Perce, you aren't the easiest person to take care of," Percy blushes and he looks away from her.

"But your kind of fun personality overcomes that." She covers up.

"It's so cool how you see some of the brighter things. I love you for that." Percy said. Focusing on what Percy had just said, Anna asks:

"Love me?" Percy's cheeks grow to a brighter red.

"I meant, uh, um, I meant-" There's a ring in the air. Percy holds his hands up to his ears, not expecting the loud noise. Anna jumps, running to her nightstand.

"My phone…' She mutters, picking it up. Percy feels awkward standing there while Anna chats with someone on the opposite line. When she hangs up the phone, they're in another silence.

"Percy, I think that this is going to be your first day outside." Percy raises an eyebrow.

"And why's that?" He asks.

"Nico." Anna swiftly replies. Percy shakes his head.

"I don't care if his life is difficult. That nut job tried to send me to the Looney bin." Percy then shakes his finger.

"Oh, c'mon, for me?" Anna asks, for the first time using bambi eyes. Percy wants to laugh because she looks really stupid doing it, but doesn't.

"No."

"But you love me!" Anna teases, and Percy's hands clench and unclench.

"Watch it." He growls.

Hopping onto his new black bike, he pedals furiously towards his high school. He runs two red lights, and almost ran a pedestrian over before he got to school. Nico slams his bicycle into the bike racks, grumbling as he locked it up. "No good little-" He cuts himself off. He promised his mom that he wouldn't cuss until age nineteen…but what were promises to her, anyway?

She promised him that she and Nico's dad would be together until the last breath. Looks like that last breath is coming a little too soon.

Nico had been so lost in thought he didn't notice Jordan Jeffries (friends call him J.J) and his little posse walking towards him.

"Hey, fag." He calls, and his friends laugh. Nico stands from his bike, putting down his leather messenger bag.

"What do want Jordan?" Nico asks, ignoring the last word of Jordan's message.

"I want you to stop checking me out in gym." Jordan says. Nico sighs grumpily.

"I don't check you out, Jordan." He says. Jordan points to Nico.

"Yes, you do! You eye me in the showers! If you don't stop I'ma beat you up." Nico holds up one finger.

"First of all, you're _so not _my type. Those jeans you're wearing are so two years ago! And don't get me started about how your belt clashes with your eyes, and your shoes. And second, the bar of soap is next to your wall!" Nico says.

"Just stop checking me out. I know I'm hot and all, but just stop." Nico clenches and unclenches his fists.

"What's up with you? You tease me about my sexuality; you accuse me of liking you. It's almost like _you_ like _me_!"Nico exclaims.

"No! I'm straight, dyke." Jordan spits at the floor.

"Yeah, as straight as a rainbow." A few of Jordan's friends snicker.

"Get him!" Jordan says. No one makes a move. "I _said_, get him!" Two of Jordan's 'friends' depart from the group and head over to Nico. Nico takes a boxing stance, ready to defend.

The two swing punches from opposite side, and Nico ducks making the two slam knuckles into each other. They wince, and cry out, backing away.

"Joey, Tom, get in there." Jordan orders. Two more come at him, and then the whole entire group is at him. They're too overwhelming. They punch at his sides, his stomach, and kick at his most vulnerable spot.

Nico wonders why there aren't any teachers here to save him. But then he remembers:

_They don't care. They think that if you're gay, your life's going to be hard and you just have to deal with it._

Slowly, they leave him until Jordan is the only one there. He punches Nico in the face. Jordan smiles, his light blonde hair is disheveled. Jordan kicks Nico's side again, then spits on his face. A parting gift.

"Have fun with my spit, homo." Jordan sneers.

With his left eye throbbing, and his body aching with pain, he stands up. He spat blood at the ground, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he glared at Jordan's retreating figure. He wipes the spit off of his cheek. He picks up his messenger bag, and then contemplates whether or not to ditch or attend. Finally after deciding on an answer, he fumbles through his bag for his smokes.

He pulls a stick out, and lights it, and props it between his teeth. He only gets out two puffs before there's a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he looks into the face of the person who runs the school.

"Principal Murphy." Nico gulps.


	10. The Face

When everything is said and done, he can't feel anything. He can't even feel himself. His possible love had just thrown herself off a cliff to save them. He feels horrible without her by his side. When the kid he'd just rescued asks if she was his girlfriend, he almost breaks down on the spot. Instead, he ignores the boy and runs a hand through his unruly hair.

All the girls in the camp are ignoring the huddle of the three young boys. Five minutes later, Percy is surprised when a girl around the age of a twelve-year-old demands for his presence. His friends bid him a well good-bye. He climbs into the small looking tent with the young goddess.

The girl with auburn hair sits down, and starts stroking a very well alive jack lope. Percy feels uncertain about who exactly this person is, and sits down on the carpet made out of bear fur. He looks around the tent, not making eye contact with the girl. He blames his ADHD as he starts playing with his hands.

"It's very rude not to look someone directly in the eyes." The girl speaks. Percy almost raises his eyebrows. This girl sounded way older than she looked.

"Sorry?" Percy apologizes, but it comes out as a question.

The girl mutters something under her breath that sounded a lot like the word "Pig," but it could have been Percy's ears tricking him. The girl continues to stroke the jack lope. A few seconds later, she speaks again, cutting Percy off from asking a question.

"I am Artemis." Percy racks his brain, trying to figure out if this Artemis person was important or not. He couldn't tell if she was major, or minor. But he was sure enough she was a got- she had that aura.

"I am-" Percy stops, realizing that he was about to mock her grammar, "Percy, my name's Percy." Artemis nods a slow creepy nod.

"I know who you are, Perseus." She says. Her jack lope perks its head up, as if asking something to her. Artemis shoots it a stern look, and Percy just wants to get out of the tent.

"How do you-" Percy tries to lead a different conversation, but he unfortunately fails.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Artemis says suddenly, and stops stroking her jack lope. Percy freezes, and his face sets like stone.

"She was very strong, beautiful too, she would have been wonderful in my Hunt." Artemis states dreamily. Percy wants to tell her he wouldn't know if she was beautiful. In the time frame of the one-year, a summer, and part of the winter that he'd known her, he didn't even know her name, or what she looked like. It was driving him crazy.

"What do you mean, wonderful in your Hunt?" Percy asks, oblivious as ever. Artemis smiles a small smile.

"You will find out soon enough, young one." She gives out a small laugh and Percy clenches his fists.

"Do you know where she is?" He asks her. Artemis tucks a strand of hair behind her ear with the hand that she wasn't petting her jack lope with.

"Perseus, I only know so much." She says quietly.

"If I find out you do know her whereabouts, I'll…I'll come after you!" Artemis rolls her eyes.

"That sure is threatening." She giggles out. In the time that Percy's met her, she seems terribly out of character with the giggle. He doesn't tell her to shut up, because he knows that she has the power to disintegrate him on the spot.

When he doesn't retort to her mocking, Artemis's nose wrinkles as she forces the words out of her mouth.

"Do you l-l-love her?" Percy's stomach churns, and his cheeks burn, but he sure enough isn't blushing.

"Uh- um, I, uh, do I? I mean, uh, does it look that way? No, no, we're just friends. I mean, if she'd want to be more than that. I think that maybe…well she kissed my cheek once but…uh; we have a strong friend ship. Well at least I hope we do. It would kinda suck if she was just playing me all this time." Percy rambles on until Artemis holds up her small hand.

"Oh enough, enough. Geez, if I knew I'd have this effect if I ever tried to pry information out of people in the way of Aphrodite, I never would have done it!" Artemis says. This time Percy does blush out of embarrassment. He looks down and fidgets with his hands once more.

"…I believe I need to show you this." Artemis says, as if still contemplating whether or not she should do so. Before Percy could ask what she meant, Artemis had already waved her hands in a mystical way, and then, she was gone. In her place was fog.

Percy leaned forward, having his curiosity. Slowly, an image burned into the fog. It was blurry, and fuzzy, but in got easier to see things eventually. What Percy saw made his nose flare. He was pretty sure somewhere, water just went crazy. It was the girl. Her hands were in handcuffs attached to the wall along with her feet. She looked frail from the shoulders down. Her cap was still on. There was a yell from outside, and you could hear the girl whimper.

A man stepped next to her.

Luke, Percy thought.

His blonde hair had gotten shaggier, and his scar looked like it had been re-opened. He had a knife strapped to his belt. He held the girls' chin.

"Hey, baby." He said smiling. Percy almost lunged at the fog. There was a click, and then Luke jumped away clutching his left hand.

"Gah, you bit me!" He said, inspecting his hands.

"I don't have rabies. Get over it." The girl said. She was still sarcastic in the weakest.

"Shut up." Luke says in a threatening tone.

"Make me." The girl bites back. Luke slaps her clear across the face and the sounds hang in the air. Percy bites his lip to keep from screaming.

The girl sucks in a breath. Her hat is a little bit off of her head now. Luke smirks at her.

"Not so smart-mouth now, are you? Now that I've given you physical harm," The girl doesn't respond. "Maybe I should do it more often." As Luke starts to leave, he turns towards her.

"We shouldn't have even let you keep that stupid hat of yours." He mumbles. Then, he's gone.

Percy doesn't know what to do, or what to say. Could the girl even hear him? It seemed impossible through the fog, but he could always give it a shot.

"Hey," He says to the fog. The girl looks around.

"I must be delusional…" She says, "I could've sworn I just heard Percy's voice." Percy can't help but smile.

"You did hear my voice." The girls' head snaps up.

"Percy? Where are you?" She asks.

"I'm at some camp. I think I'm far away from you. Where are you?" He asks. The girl shrugs defeated.

"I don't know. They blind-folded me." She answers.

"Who're they?" Percy asks, but he's afraid he already knows the answer.

"Part of Kronos's army." She whispers.

"I'll come save you. No matter where you are. I promise I'll come after you, if it's the last thing I do. I swear upon the river Styx." He says.

"Thanks, Percy, but I don't think you'll be able to." She says.

"Stop being so pessimistic! I'll find you!" Percy says encouragingly.

"Good luck. Hey, I think I hear some guards coming…" She says. It's a message that she thinks he should end the conversation.

"Wait," Percy says quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Take off your hat." Percy says.

"Excuse me?"

"Take off your hat. You heard me." Percy says.

"Uh, why?" The girl asks. You can hear the awkwardness seeping into her tone.

"Because, like you said, if I can't find you, I want to be able to remember your face." Percy explains.

"That has to be the most-" The girl tries to say, but can't find the right words. "Fine." She agrees. She shakes the cap off, and it hits the floor with a plop. Percy looks at her face. He sucks in a great breath when he saw her. She was beautiful with her stormy grey eyes; slightly tan complexion, and full lips. He didn't even take notice in the slap mark slowly fading away.

"Wow," he breathed, "Stunning." He looked at her again. He loved her eyes. He loved her nose.

"What's your name?" He asks quickly.

"Perce, I really think there are some guards coming. Yep, here they come." The girl says,

"Please, tell me your name." He really needed to know her name. He'd ask her cabin mates, but each time they opened their mouths, a strange look would cross their face, and they'd ignore him for the day.

"I can't Percy, not now." Percy made a strong sound of frustration.

"Why not?" He whined.

"Names have power, Percy. Names have power." She repeated.

"Just, please!"

"The guards are here. Save me, Percy. Save me before it's too late."

"Hey, who are you talking to?" A gruff voice yelled. Percy saw a flash, and suddenly, the girls' right arm was bleeding. The flash was a whip.

"Goodbye…" The girl whispered, and the fog disappeared.

"No!" Percy yelled, reaching out his hand. His hand landed on something hard. Artemis's face.

"You do know that I do not appreciate your hand being placed there." His hands muffled her words. Percy pulled away slowly. The girl…

"Sorry. What just happened?" Percy asks.

"You, my dear, just saw a vision. From the future." Artemis says simply.

"Can't seeing something from the future, like, mess up the space time continuum or something?" Percy asks scratching his hair trying to process what he'd just seen.

"Oh, you, and your mortal beliefs. That's truly hilarious," Artemis says. Suddenly, her face becomes serious.

"But you really do have to save her." She says.

"Oh, I know. I don't have much time, though, do I?" Artemis gets a far off look in her eyes.

"No, time has never been on our side." She says. Percy stands up awkwardly in the tent. He goes towards the entrance/exit. He turns towards her.

"I will save her before the war starts." He says confidently. Artemis cocks her head to one side.

"But, dear, the war has already started."

"Favorite color?" Anna asks Percy.

"Blue, I guess." They've been at this for at least fifteen minutes and Percy's already bored. They're just now sitting in her car in the parking garage. Percy hasn't had to face any sun because there was an elevator that led them down to this level (the elevator wasn't that fun for Percy) easily.

"…Describe your mother." Anna says.

"Nice, fun, loving. Mother-ish." Percy shrugs.

"Father?"

"Fun-ish, nice-ish, he smoked, did drugs, and drank some beer. Had poker parties. Non-fatherish."

"I think I found your problem!" Anna says excitedly. Percy rolled his eyes, flipping his hood up.

"Listen, honey, that sure enough ain't it."

"Ugh, your irritating." She mumbles.

"You're annoying."

"Heard that."

"You were meant to."

She grumbled something low under her breath. It was one thirty- eight, and they were supposed to meet the principal at two o-clock.

"We should probably go." Anna says. Percy shakes his head.

"I don't think I can do this, Anna."

"C'mon, it's for your friend."

"He's not my friend, anymore." Anna grips his hand again, staring him directly in the eye.

"Do it for me?" Percy smiles a small smile at her pleading eyes. She reminded him of the time when Rachel asked if he could run away with her. Oh, God, he missed Rachel so much.

Percy took in Anna's big eyes, her full lips, her dirty blonde hair, and her totally tanned Californian face. For some odd reason, she looked familiar. Almost like he knew who she was, but didn't know whom she was at the same time if that makes sense.

"I guess. Just give me those sunglasses." He says.

"You know these are for girls, right?" She asks, giving him her pair. He puts them on making a face.

"Well, I just hope I look fantabulous." He says. Anna laughs.

"Well you do." She says. She pulls out of her spot in the garage.

"Here we go." She says smiling.

As the first rays of light sting Percy's eyes, he makes a gasp of recognition.

Anna and the girl both have the same face.


	11. The Illusionist

**Cel**

**Italian god of death and the underworld**

**Umbria**

**Italian goddess of shadows and things which are hidden**

"It hurts so much." Percy whines, and covers his eyes like a little toddler.

"I know, I know," Anna says. Then, she shrugs, "But hey, you're one step closer to not being afraid of the outside world."

"It's not the outside world I'm afraid of." Percy says, voice so low even Anna can barely hear it.

"What was that?" She asks, cupping one hand over her right ear, leaning over, but still keeping her other hand on the wheel, and eyes on the road.

"Nothing." Percy mumbles, shutting his eyes. When he opens them, he sees a black car in the review mirror. There's a two people in the car. One's driving, and the other is looking exactly at Percy with their binoculars.

Percy shivers, and then clutches the seat tightly. Something about those people reminded him of one of those people from his dreams years ago.

"Drive faster." He orders. Anna looks at him questioningly.

"I _said_, drive faster." He glares at her. "_Now_." Anna only shrugs and presses the gas pedal a little bit more. Only does she stop when they reach the speed limit.

"What was that about?" Anna asks. Under his breath, Percy mumbles something Anna couldn't hear.

"So, tell me a little about yourself. You seem young-ish." Anna shrugs once again.

"I graduated college at age seventeen." Anna says and Percy smirks.

"Impressive." He says.

"Well…yeah. My parents were so proud of me on graduating day. Ruffled my hair and told me: that even if I grow up to be more mature than they are, I'll always be their little Annabeth." Percy cocks an eyebrow. Annabeth…where had he heard that name before?

"That's my real name. In my second year of college people started calling me Anna. They name's been stuck ever since. I don't really like it though, it's kind of annoying. I don't even know why I told you to call me that." Percy quickly decides to call her by her full name. He likes it better. It reminds him of the countryside.

When they reach Nico's school, Percy was squirming with paranoia. The black trucks he'd seen through the rear-view mirror on the high way weren't right behind them, but Percy still has a feeling that they're being followed. He has a burning feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They walk into the front office. They're two ladies sitting at separate desks, typing away on the computers. Behind them is a door that leads to the council room, and a couple feet across from that is the Principal's office. The walls are white, and it all stings Percy's eyes. On the other side there's the Nurse's office, and a few feet down is the Teacher's lounge. All Percy could think of at the moment was, _"Oh, those poor, poor, teachers."_

"Hi. I'm looking for Nico di Angelo. We're here for the meeting." Annabeth smiles sweetly, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. The woman at the front desk (her name is Abbey) looks up.

"You're not his parents," Abbey's eyes shift to Percy, and she smiles briefly. "And you don't look a day over eighteen." Percy's nose wrinkles. Abbey looks at least thirty. She had curly brown hair and light blue eyes, and wore framed glasses. Sure, she could be attractive for her age, but it wasn't exactly what Percy was…looking for.

"We're filling in for Cel and Umbria. They couldn't make it, but I'm the back up guardian." She smiles again and Abbey reflects it.

"Okay. Nico's already in the Principal's office. The Principal will be there in a moment."

Annabeth guided Percy over to the room. It was a dark red, and on the back wall there were pictures of the Principal throughout the year. On the right wall was a trophy case, and on the left there were quotes just taking up the whole wall.

Sitting on a plush chair in front of a wooden desk, was Nico. His shoulders we low, and with the way of his posture, you knew he was in trouble. Annabeth sits down in the opposite chair next to Nico, forcing Percy to stand. Nice turns around and glares at Percy, before resuming his previous position. Percy taps his foot impatiently. Out of the principal's office, he has a view of two big and black vans. He can see people waiting inside of them. The creepy thing is that their staring at the window. No, they're staring at _him. _Then, Percy blinks. He looks out the window. The vans are gone.

"Sorry I'm late." A woman says, as she rushes into the room. She plops herself in the single chair behind the desk. Her light brown hair is pulled tightly back into a bun, and she has dark brown and bushy eyebrows. She smiles at Annabeth, holding out a hand.

"I'm Athena. I don't believe we've met." Annabeth returns the smile.

"We're filling in for Cel and Umbria today." Athena cocks an eyebrow, turning her head ever so slightly.

"Yes, I do believe Umbria called a few days ago…we?" She asks confusedly. Her eyes shift to Percy. She glares at him slightly.

"Hello," She says, you could tell she was trying her best not to let an infuriated tone into her voice, "Nice to see you again." Percy raises an eyebrow, and then his mouth forms an "Oh" formation.

He remembers. He used to go to this school. Percy doesn't know why, but Athena had always hated him. It doesn't look like anything has changed, because Athena ignores him after one glance.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Athena asks, looking back at Annabeth. She scoots closer to the desk, and pulls out a light yellow folder from it, placing it on the desk with a thud.

"This morning, I found Nico at the bike racks, doing something looked down upon at this school. Care to say, Nico?" Athena intertwines her hands tightly.

"No, you can go right ahead." Nico says smirking. Athena's knuckles turn white.

"I found Nico smoking at the bike racks earlier this morning."

No gasps.

No jokes.

No laughter.

No fights.

Just_ stares._

"Mr. di Angelo, what do you think your punishment should be?" Athena gives a sickly sweet smile as she reaches into a drawer, and pulls out glasses. She sets them on the bridge of her nose, and rests her chin in her hands.

"You're the Principal, do it yourself." Nico says in a valley-girl accent, rolling his eyes.

"Even high, you're sarcastic!" Athena accuses. Nico stands up, and staggers to the left. Annabeth grabs his arm, making sure he doesn't fall.

"I'm not high!"

"Sit, Nico." Annabeth says, as she stares him directly in the eye. Nico breaks away, and rubs his hands underneath his eyes and yawns like an innocent child.

"Can I just go home?" Nico whines.

"For three weeks you can stay off of this campus." Nico blinks.

"But Madam Athena, I'd miss mid-terms." Athena raises an eyebrow.

"Whose fault is that?" Nico stays silent. Athena opens Nico's file, then stamps something into the corner. She starts to right in it.

"You may spend the rest of the day cleaning out your locker, gathering your supplies, and leaving. I recommend that you go home with your back-up guardians, and not a rebellious outsider, who could possibly be the root to your problems." Athena rambles on while writing down notes.

Nico points a finger.

"Thalia. Grace. Is. Not. A. Outsider." With each punctuation, Nico jabs a finger in Athena's direction. Every time he jabs a finger, Percy moves forward. By the time Nico tries to charge at Athena, Nico's being held back by Percy and Annabeth. Athena cocks her head to the side.

"Is he trying to _attack_ me?" Athena scoffs, and then leaves the room. A few seconds later she pops back in.

"Don't break anything. Don't _touch_ anything." She shoots a look at Percy, like he's the biggest trouble maker out of all of them.

"Let me at her!" Nico yells. "Just…One…Swing!" Nico's arms flail, and his right hand, in the form of a first, managed to hit Percy's temple. The older boy dropped to the floor, unconscious, effective immediately.

_When Percy wakes, he's inside a medal box. There are bars at the top, kind of like monkey bars. Percy immediately knows it's to let air in and out. Was he in a prison? What had he done?_

"_Perseus…" Comes a voice from everywhere. Percy stands up._

"_Huh?" Comes his smart reply._

"_Perseus…It's been so long. You've grown so much." Percy can't tell if it's a woman or a man. It seems as though it's a mixture of both._

"_Who are you?" Percy demands._

"_The question is, dear, who are you, and where are you?"_

"_Well, I'm in…! I'm in…where am I?"_

"_It's about time to explain, isn't it?" It sounded like there was bickering all around him. Percy turns himself ninety degrees, and couldn't see anyone, or anything._

"_Look ahead, son. See our world before your eyes." A deep voice said. It was obvious to Percy who the man was. He didn't know _how_ he knew the voice, and could single it down to one person, but he did. It was his father._

_His real one._


End file.
